I tried to get One to get off the platform but he insisted that either I got off or there was plenty of room. I curled up in the corner, on my phone, scrolling through tiktok. We came to a halt after about only thirty minutes. "Oh good. Walmart stop," Ten said cheerfully. The back of the door opened and I jumped out. It was strange to see everyone in normal clothes. We were all in jeans. One, as expected, had a black shirt on. Ten has a pink shirt with "bee-utifal" in gold letters with a bumblebee on the the word Bee. I was wearing a plan white tee, which I regretted knowing that I rarely got to wear anything other than my uniform. Twelve was in a blue and white striped shirt. I walked into Walmart and Ten quickly dragged me off to the snacks aisle. Blade had given us each a card to use, no limits, only that we had to eat or use what we bought. I followed her quickly and she started putting chips in baskets, with some candies and cookies. "Are we going to be able to eat all this?" I asked with a small laugh. "Yeah. The boys are grabbing a game to play so we'll need to share with them." I chuckled and she grabbed a couple more things. I paused and grabbed a bag of salt and vinegar chips. "These are for me." I added them to the cart and we walked to the register. "Having a party?" The cashier said smiling. I laughed a bit but Ten looked almost scared to talk to another person who wasn't an agent. "Yeah. We are," I said smiling tightly while standing in front of Ten protectively. I leaned playfully over the counter. "Don't worry about her. She's my little sister. She gets really shy. That's why we're having a party, right Emma?" I nudged her gently. She smiled gratefully up at me and nodded. The cashier smiled and finished scanning our stuff. I grabbed the cart and headed it out. I saw the boys already waiting for us near the truck. "You guys had better have gotten something good," Twelve said smiling. I nodded and started helping Ons put things into the truck. I jumped into but One quickly got up on top. "Hey!" I whined. I tried to jump up but he shoved me back down smirking. I glared furiously at him. "Look who's the one glaring now," he said. "And look who's finally smiling." He wiped the emotion from his face and I sat on the ground as Ten shut the door. One flicked on the light beside him and it lit up the back of the truck. Twelve handed around snacks. "The salt and vinegar chips are mine," I said and he tossed them over to me. "What game did ya'll get?" "Shotgun," Twelve replied with a grin. "No way! I've seen that on TikTok!" I said grinning. Ten smiled and Twelve opened the box.

We played for almost two hours. Everyone grinning, except One who was obviously trying hard to keep a straight face, but I saw a bit of a smile when there was a stupid card. When he wasn't paying attention I jumped up to the top part with my bag of chips. "Hey!" "Hey!" I mocked. He tried to shove me down but I kicked his hand away. I smirked a bit. "Down, Twenty One!" I sat behind him and shoved him off with my legs. He almost landed on his face. I burst into giggles. He caught himself, landing on his feet. "I'm tired. Night." I lay down across the area. I heard One grumble something. "That's a good idea. It's late and we've got stuff tomorrow," Twelve said. I peeped open my eyes to see Ten and Twelve lay down on opposite sides of the truck. One sat up against the door. I closed my eyes and steadied out my breathing. It was cold enough for me to struggle to sleep. "Freaking moron didn't bring a blanket. Will you stop shaking?" I ignored One and turned over so I was facing the wall. "Great. They're all asleep." He sighed and I heard the truck shift as he stood. I felt a blanket fall over me softly. "Thank you, One," I whispered. I felt him pause. "You're awake?" I giggled and rolled over to face him. He glared at me. "I am very particular about the temperature," I said smiling a bit. "Thank you." "Whatever." He walked away and sat against the car. "Get some sleep Gaol." "You know, you never told me what that means," I mumbled. "And I never will. Go to bed or I'm taking my blanket back." I smiled and closed my eyes, quickly falling asleep.

I woke up sweating from a nightmare. I grabbed my phone and checked the time. It was three, so around two hours until our arrival. It was very dark and I guessed that One had turned the light off before going to bed. I sighed, taking a deep breath. I could practically feel the gun in my hands. I heard someone shift. "Shut up," I heard One groan. "Sorry," I mumbled. "I didn't mean to wake you." "No snarky comment?" I saw his shadow sit up. "Are you alright, Twenty One?" He asked, standing. He pulled himself up next to me and turned up the flashlight of his phone and pointed it at me. I raised a hand to block it from my eyes. "I'm fine. It was just a nightmare," I said quietly. "We're going to be there in two hours anyway." I grabbed a chip out of my bag. "Well there's not really a reason to go back to sleep then is there?" He turned off the flashlight and leaned against the wall opposite me, still on the top part. "Do you want to talk about it?" "You're being nice," I said. "That's because I'm a nice person," he said frowning. I shook my head. "Okay. I'm a nice person when it's one on one. Ask Three." I smiled a bit. "It's weird. You being nice for once." I held out my bag. He hesitantly took one and bit it. He coughed. "What the heck are those? Are you trying to kill me?" He whispered. "They're salt and vinegar chip, weirdo!" I replied and felt his hand go over my mouth. "Shh. We don't want to wake the others." I shoved his arm away, glaring at him. "I can't see you're expression but I'm guessing you're glaring at me." "Shut up." "Oh. Who's the one being nasty now?" He sat back. I took a deep breath and started to take my hair down from the ponytail I had had when I slept. He turned on his flashlight. I felt the pause but didn't look at him. "Oh don't tell me you find this attractive, One." "Of course not!" I leaned over and covered his mouth. "Shhh!" He shoved my arm away glaring at me. I giggled. "You're a pain in my a-" "Language," I said before he could finish. He rolled his eyes and reached into the chip bag. He took a couple more and started eating these. "Being raised in the society means I didn't get a lot of this growing up." I frowned in confusion. "How long have you been a part of the society?" "Since I was three. So for twenty years this summer." I bit my lip. "Oh. I would ask how it happened but Ten already told me off last time." "Well. You should never ask," he whispered. "It never ends well." He nodded. "Unless they want to share." I wrapped my arms around myself. "My parents died. It was my fault." I leaned my head against the wall. "That's all I want to say about it." "Oh. I'm sorry," One whispered. "I'm sure that was hard." I shrugged and we sat in silence for multiple minutes, eating chips. I pulled the blanket over myself. "My parents were the only people who ever cared about me," I whispered after a second. "Well not anymore. I-the whole society cares for you now. Don't tell anyone I told you, but us first five have kinda adopted you as our. Like. Trainee. Since you're so little. Like our little sister," he smiled. "Younger sister? I'm two years older than Four," I whined. "You don't act like it. Plus...you're quite a bit shorter," He chuckled. I slapped him with the bag of chips and heard Ten mumble, "we're trying to sleep love bugs." One and I exchanged glances and I pretended to gag. He laughed and cuffed me gently.